Foot in Mouth Disease
by Crystal2222
Summary: Connor needs to discuss something with Abby after Jenny's wedding, but he may not like what Abby has to say.
1. Chapter 1

Foot in Mouth Disease

Synopsis: Connor talks to Abby after Jenny's wedding.

Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval.

Pairing: Connor/Abby, hint of Matt and Emily

After Lester finished marrying Jenny, and after Jenny and her new husband kissed, and after everyone applauded, Connor set down the laptop and breathed a sigh of relief. To say it had been a long day and night and day again, was an understatement of epic proportions. He was so tired that his ears were buzzing and he had to squint into the bright daylight streaming through the windows.

"Good job," said Matt, with a firm nod to Connor. "But seeing as how the creatures are all back where they belong and the anomaly is closed, we should probably get going."

Connor gaped at him. "Matt, I know you're not one for socializing, but surely even you can see it would be rude to leave now. Plus Jenny's our friend, yeah? Former ARC employee and all that."

Matt hesitated. His eyebrows drew together as he scanned the well-heeled guests milling toward the ballroom where Connor had seen tables and chairs set up for, hopefully, a lovely meal. He was proper starving after his vigil in the basement and he hoped some food would take away this feeling he had of being hung over and drunk at the same time, without the benefits of consuming any booze.

"And look how lovely Emily looks," added Connor, suspecting this might be Matt's weak spot. "If we left now, she'd have to change. Let her enjoy herself a little longer."

Matt sighed and stared at Emily in her borrowed dress, his expression as enigmatic as ever. "I suppose you're right. But we're not staying another night, Connor. After we eat, we leave, got it?"

Connor nodded and scuttled away before Matt could change his mind. He found a waitress walking around with a tray of a shrimp salad on cracker, so he grabbed one and popped it into his mouth. Normally, he wasn't wild about shrimp, but he was hungry enough that it tasted like a bit of heaven. So he reached back and took another, ignoring the disapproving scowl on the woman's face.

After that he grabbed a glass of white wine from another tray and downed the whole thing before he realized how thirsty he was. The wine immediate went to his head, so he hung onto the back of a chair to steady himself. When he saw Abby standing near the French doors that led to the back gardens, he snagged two more glasses. This time, the serving woman just raised her eyebrows at him. He ignored her.

"Hey," he said, joining Abby and holding out one of the glasses.

"Hey, you." Abby smiled at him and took one of the glasses. "Thanks."

"It was a lovely wedding, wasn't it?"

"Mmm, it was. I'm glad you were able to hook Lester up through the laptop."

"Well, it's the least I could do after stumbling into the service shouting at everyone to scatter."

Abby laughed. "It's better than letting the hyendadons eat the guests. You did a good job today, Connor."

"Thank you very much. You did too, Abby. Should we drink to us?"

"We should."

They grinned and clinked glasses.

"I wonder if our—" Connor snapped his mouth shut and gulped down some more wine. He'd almost said "I wonder if our wedding will have an anomaly at it," but that would've been bad. Especially since his comment from the day before was still hanging in the air between them like an inflated pink elephant, bobbing around and getting in the way of everything.

"Our what?"

"What?"

"Connor, you started to say something and then you stopped. What did you mean by you 'wonder if our'?"

"Don't know. I'm sleep deprived and me brain is working wrong." Connor rested his head on her shoulder, trying to act the part, all the while kicking himself for being a big chicken.

He'd thought of marrying Abby quite often over the years, and sometimes in his mind, it was a done deal. He'd just never gotten up the nerve to talk about it with her. Until yesterday, that is, when it had just sort of popped out on its own.

Abby put an arm around him and rubbed circles on his back. "Maybe you should go lie down in one of the rooms," she suggested.

"No, I'm okay. I want to enjoy the rest of the wedding."

"Okay," she said. "By the way, I left you about 20 million messages. Didn't know whether to be angry or worried at first. Then I was just worried."

"Sorry." Connor slipped an arm around her waist. "I was kind of trapped, wasn't I?"

"Yeah. You can erase the messages if you want. They get repetitive after a while."

"Okay."

"I hate that you had to spend the night alone down there." He could hear a frown in her voice. "I should've gone looking for you."

"Sorry."

"Don't apologize." Abby gave him an irritated poke in the side. "It's me who should be sorry. I let Jenny talk me into thinking you were sleeping off a drinking binge when I should've known better. Even if you drank like that, you would've returned my calls."

"Jenny knew I was with Matt, didn't she? If I was drinking it was from boredom. Or desperation."

Abby snorted.

"You don't need to apologize, Abby. No way you could've known where I was, yeah?"

"But you needed help, and I wasn't there."

"Abby," said Connor, giving her a little shake. "You would've helped if you'd known, okay? Quit beating yourself up about it."

She sighed. "Okay."

Someone rang a bell and announced that lunch was being served in the ballroom. Connor picked his head off Abby's shoulder and waited for the room to stop spinning. Unfortunately, it didn't, so he kept his arm around her waist as they filed in behind the rest of the guests. One good thing about the wine, it was making him a tiny bit braver.

"Abby," said Connor, as they followed a woman in a pink suit and large feathered hat, "about what I said—"

"There you are," said Emily, suddenly appearing at their side. "I'm not familiar with your customs. What are the seating arrangements today?"

"I don't know," said Abby, "but let's sit together. Where's Matt?"

Emily pointed him out. He was getting two glasses of fruit punch for him and Emily. When Emily waved at him, he nodded. A moment later, he joined them at an empty table in the back of the room.

Just as they settled down, Jenny breezed by, all smiles. "Whew, that was more excitement than I wanted at my wedding. Thank you all for making sure no one was hurt. That would've put a damper on everything, I'm sure."

They laughed and told her they were glad to help.

"And I'm so glad you're staying for lunch," she continued. "We have filet mignon, potatoes, asparagus, and assorted other things. If you don't like beef, just let your server know, and they can bring something else. Then there's a delicious vanilla cream wedding cake for dessert with raspberry syrup. Help yourselves to wine or beer, etc., etc. Oops, there's my husband looking for me. Isn't it wonderful to say husband?"

Before she left, she met Connor's eyes as if to say, if this is what you want, don't ruin it by being an idiot. Talk to her.

Connor glanced at Abby, but she'd turned to Emily, and the two of them were chatting about the decorations and dresses and comparing them to similar things from the 1800s. Matt caught his eye and they both shared a grimace.

"Oh Connor," said Emily suddenly, turning her attention to him. "I hear you and Abby are thinking of getting married here."

"What?" Connor blinked, not sure he'd heard her correctly, or if it was the wine and sleep deprivation talking. "M-married?"

"Oh, God no," said Abby. She gave Connor a quick, furtive glance. "Actually I think Connor said it would be a nice place to get married, right Connor? Not that the two of us should get married here. We don't have any plans on getting married or anything, do we?"

Connor shook his head, not trusting himself to talk lest he blurt out something else he'd regret, like he'd wanted to get married until Abby had just said "God no," as if the idea of marrying him were the equivalent of getting a root canal. He hadn't expected her to want to marry him for years and years the way he'd wanted to marry her, but he also hadn't thought she'd be so repulsed by the idea. Where did she think their relationship was going anyway?

Suddenly all the old fears came crashing down on him, multiplied by the lack of sleep and too much wine. Abby had only been with him in the Cretaceous because there was no one else and being together helped them stay alive and sane from lack of human contact. Now that they were back, he was the geek, and she was the hot blonde who could get someone better than him, someone more macho and dangerous and handsome.

Abby was so pretty a million guys would be interested in her, and she knew it. Maybe she was just staying with him out of pity or habit. She'd been perfectly happy sleeping away from him last night, not even protesting when Jenny spirited her and Emily away.

Connor knew he was being ridiculous, that he wasn't thinking straight, but he couldn't seem to stop the gloomy thoughts from swirling around his head.

He felt Abby's hand on his thigh. "Connor," she whispered in his ear. "We need to talk. Later, after lunch, okay?"

Connor nodded and swallowed down the threat of tears. "We sure do."


	2. Chapter 2

Lunch lasted forever. Connor gave up on trying to stay sober. Lack of food, rest, and common sense meant that he'd decided to drown his sorrows in advance of their talk. If Abby was going to tell him she didn't want to marry him, then he was going to do his best to make sure it didn't bring him any pain.

It was a stupid plan. Of course, it would hurt, especially after everything they'd been through together. He couldn't imagine his life without her, but what would happen after their conversation? Would they decide to live together until they grew tired of each other? (Which meant until Abby grew tired of Connor because Connor knew he'd never grow tired of her.) Or would pride demand he give her an ultimatum? If she didn't want to marry him then he would have to drop her and find someone else who would marry him?

No, he didn't have that much pride, did he? Still, just the idea of breaking up with Abby for any reason just made him sick.

He pushed his salad away and took another sip of his wine.

"Is something wrong with your food?" asked Abby, giving him a look of concern.

"No, everything's fine," said Connor, forcing himself to smile at her. "Just not in a salad mood, is all."

"Okay." She didn't look convinced, but she dropped it.

They both turned to the conversation around the table. Midge and Kent, Jenny's friends from uni were doing most of the talking. They'd asked to join the table right after the salad had been served, apologizing for being late and shaking hands with everyone. They were a super nice couple, and if Connor was in a better mood, he'd enjoy their company. Now their cheerfulness and the fact that they were newly married, as they made sure to tell everyone, just annoyed him.

"So how do you all know the happy couple?" asked Midge. She was a preppy brunette wearing an expensive suit and a chipper smile. "I want to hear all the gory details."

Abby related their cover story about working with Jenny at the PR firm, which Connor confirmed. Matt just mumbled something about not really knowing Jenny because he was new. Emily said the same thing but in a much more cultured and refined way.

As they passed around a bread basket, Midge told some amusing anecdotes about her and Jenny getting drunk and wild at university. Kent, dressed in his own expensive suit and sporting a thick head of sandy hair, chuckled at her tales, murmuring words about not seeing that side of her in their accounting classes where they'd met.

Abby related her own tales of getting drunk at school, while Connor mumbled something about pizza and Coke at marathon Magic tournaments, which earned him strange looks all around. Emily laughed and said she led a much more sheltered life than everyone else. Matt just grunted and checked his watch.

After a momentary lull, Midge turned her bright gaze upon Abby and Connor. "I heard you two are thinking of getting married here." She gave Ken a warm smile. "It's a lovely place, isn't it?"

"We know from firsthand experience, don't we, baby?" Ken grabbed Midge's hand and gave it a squeeze. "That's how Jenny and Michael knew about the place."

"She was a bridesmaid in my wedding," added Midge.

"And he was a groomsman in mine," said Ken.

When Connor and Abby didn't answer right away, Midge glanced back and forth between them. "Oh dear, I hope I didn't say the wrong thing."

Connor almost didn't want to look at Abby, but he couldn't help himself. When he turned toward her, she gave him a quick glance, her eyes wide and panicked.

Connor decided to field this one. "We're not getting married here," he told Midge, sounding harsher than he'd meant to. When she blinked in surprise, he forced a smile on his face. "Just something silly I said earlier. You know me, always running me mouth off. Well, if you knew me, you'd think that. But you obviously don't know me, do you? But if you did, you'd say, 'There goes Connor, talking without thinking, putting his foot in his mouth again . . ."

Abby squeezed his knee under the table. "What Connor is trying to say is that we don't have any plans to get married here."

"No, we don't." Connor moved his knee away from Abby's hand and crossed it over his other one. He could feel her giving him a long look, but he ignored her.

Midge wrinkled her nose as if she were backing away from something unpleasant. She cleared her throat. "Well, that's awkward. . . . Shall we change the subject?"

Kent nodded over enthusiastically. "How about sports? That's a safe topic."

The rest of lunch was pure torture. Connor picked at his filet mignon and potatoes. Normally he loved steak, but he couldn't seem to force it past the constriction in his throat. He washed down a few bites with wine and let the conversation flow around him, nodding when it was expected of him, and answering questions if someone sent one his way. Fortunately Matt, Abby, and Kent managed to keep the sports topic going for a long while.

As soon as the servers started clearing dishes, he excused himself and headed toward the bar.

"What'll it be, mate?" asked the bartender, a young beanpole of a guy with a big nose and tattoos going all around his neck.

"Wine, I suppose," said Connor with a big sigh.

"Women troubles?" asked the bartender as he poured a glass for Connor.

"Don't you know it." Connor gulped down half the glass and opened his mouth to make an ironic comment on his situation with Abby. He was trying to appear cool and worldly. Instead he poured out the whole sordid tale as if he had no control over his own mouth.

"I can get other women, you know," finished Connor, indicating for the bartender to fill his glass again. "I've been told I'm attractive. I'm just choosy. And according to Abby, I talk too much and about the wrong things, like Star Trek and comic books and games and anything fun."

"Hey, a fellow geek." The bartender smiled and reached across the bar to shake Connor's hand. "I'm Luke."

"Connor."

"The Hulk or Iron Man?"

"In a fight?"

"No, just in general. Which one is better?"

Connor grinned. "I've gotta go with technology, yeah? Iron Man! Tony Stark can invent anything he needs to fit the situation, can't he? The Hulk is stuck with what he already is."

Luke laughed. "I agree with you, but I can see what Abby is talking about regarding the geek talk. Now, which one is she?"

Connor glanced back at his table and pointed her out. She was laughing at something Emily was saying and looked absolutely lovely in her bright blue dress.

When he and Abby inevitably broke up, he'd really miss having a laugh with her. Sometimes, they shared the best laughs. He loved the way her eyes crinkled when she laughed.

"Mate, she's really hot," exclaimed Luke, interrupting Connor's thoughts.

Connor sighed. "Yeah, she's way above my station, isn't she?"

"Not necessarily." Luke opened a beer bottle for another guest and turned back to Connor. "You two are a good match looks-wise. It's the geeky interests of yours that knock you down a peg or two. Girls like her don't usually go for that."

"Oi," said Connor, glaring at Luke. "You're not helping."

"Sorry, I'm just telling it like it is. When you work behind a bar, you hear every story imaginable. You learn a lot about relationships, especially when you do weddings as much as I do."

Before Connor could ask Luke for his opinion about his situation with Abby, he felt a small hand on his shoulder.

"Connor," said Abby, standing just behind him. When Connor turned to her, she gave him a tentative smile. "You going to hang out at the bar all afternoon?"

"Don't know," said Connor. She looked so pretty he wanted to give her a twirl right next to the bar, but you didn't twirl girls who were going to tell you later that they never wanted to marry you. Instead he told her that he was talking geek talk with Luke, even though it wasn't quite true.

Abby laughed and seemed to relax a bit about him being away at the bar. "Trust you to find the one geek in the entire place. I guess it's only fair. Me and Emily were talking dresses for quite a while, hardly the sort of thing that would interest you, yeah?"

Connor couldn't help smiling at that. "Not unless they're in Lord of the Rings and elves are wearing them."

Luke, who'd been busy mixing a couple of drinks, leaned over toward Abby. "Has Connor indoctrinated you into his interests? Or are you able to resist like my girlfriend?"

"Oh, he's tried often enough. I can tolerate some of it, but we've worked out a system where we each get to pick out a movie and we can't fall asleep during the other person's choice." Abby smiled at Connor and rubbed the small of his back affectionately.

Oh God, thought Connor. He would really miss those movie nights, even if he didn't like Abby's choices.

"How's that work out for you?" asked Luke.

"Well," said Connor with a mischievous glance at Abby. "It means one of us is happy half the time and other one is checking e-mail or reading a magazine."

Abby laughed and slapped him on the arm. "It's not that bad!"

A woman in a smart pantsuit walked up to Connor and Abby and introduced herself as the one in charge of renting out the mansion for events. As she talked, Luke discretely stepped away and began wiping down the bar.

"I understand the two of you are thinking of getting married here," said the woman as she handed her card to Abby. "I just wanted to give you my contact information."

"Th-thanks," stammered Abby. Her eyes grew wide and she looked really embarrassed.

Connor crossed his arms and glared at the woman. Would he never live down his indiscretion? If this didn't teach him to keep his mouth shut, nothing would.

"It's just that we book up really fast," said the woman. "If you're interested, we're looking at a year and a half right now. Sometimes people reserve the space even if they're still thinking. The deposit is more than reasonable."

"We'll think about it," said Abby, giving the woman a firm nod. "Right Connor?"

Connor rolled his eyes. "Yep, I'm sure we will, especially seeing as we have no plans on getting married."

Abby glared at him.

The woman frowned and murmured something about being sorry for taking up their time. "If you ever do plan on getting married," she said, pasting on a professional smile. "You have my number. Thank you for your time." She nodded and quickly walked away.

Abby whirled on him. "What is your problem?"

"My problem?" asked Connor. He looked at her like she was crazy.

"Yeah, your problem. You barely talked during dinner. You're hanging out at the bar instead of with your friends. And now you're rude to this woman."

"Oh that's rich, Abby." Connor stepped away from the bar, took a deep breath, and returned. "You know what?"

"What?" she demanded, her arms crossed.

"I wish I'd never said anything earlier about getting married here. Obviously that was a huge mistake."

"What do you mean? Getting married here or just in general?"

"Both!"

"Well you know what, Connor?" Abby jabbed her pointer finger into his chest. "I wouldn't want to marry you, anyway. You never even asked me proper. You just talked about it as if I would say yes."

"Are you saying you wouldn't?" he demanded.

"Maybe. But now you'll never know, will you? Because I don't want to talk about it anymore." And with that, she whirled around and stormed out of the room.

Connor balled his fists and breathed out a silent scream. When he turned to the bar, Luke shook his head as if Connor had royally screwed up.

"What?" asked Connor.

"Mate," said Luke, pouring Connor a shot of whiskey. "You're screwed."


	3. Chapter 3

Connor picked up the shot of whiskey and gave Luke a doubtful look. Wine was one thing, hard liquor quite another. And Connor had never been much of a drinker.

Luke poured himself a shot and raised it toward Connor. "To screwing up."

"If I drank something every time I screwed up," muttered Connor, "I'd never be sober." He shrugged, and when Luke tilted back his shot, Connor did as well.

Immediately his eyes watered and a trail of fire burned all the way down his throat to his stomach. He coughed and clutched the edge of the bar.

Luke chuckled. "A little liquid courage isn't always pleasant, I guess." He made shooing motions with his hand. "Okay now, go on. Go after her and beg forgiveness."

Connor blinked away the moisture from his eyes as the burning turned into a pleasant warmth inside him. The room spun slightly, and he hoped he'd be able to talk to Abby and still make sense. "Hang on," he said, realizing what Luke had said. "Why do I have to apologize? She's the one who said 'God no' when asked about marrying me!"

"Mate," said Luke with an eyeroll and a shake of his head, "maybe you're not ready for marriage yet. Don't you know you always apologize? It sets the tone. I mean, you need to stand up for yourself too, yeah? Just be diplomatic about it. Don't apologize for everything, just for the part you did wrong. Then talk to her and don't make assumptions."

Connor listened intently, trying to make mental notes of all the advice. "Okay."

When he didn't move, Luke reached over the bar and gave Connor's shoulder a shove in the right direction. Connor stumbled but kept his feet moving. When he glanced behind him, Luke gave him a thumbs up.

Out in the hall, Connor didn't see Abby anywhere, so he tried the parlor and a couple of other rooms, but she wasn't in either one. Finally he glanced out into the back yard and saw a shock of blonde hair poking up above the back of a bench. He opened the French doors and marched between manicured hedges to where she sat.

Abby's head was resting on the back of the bench and she had her eyes closed. She didn't move when Connor's shadow fell across her.

"Hey," he said.

She sighed and sat up. A stray tear rolled down her cheek, so she wiped it away with the heel of her palm.

"I'm sorry," he said, sitting next to her. He was trying to be more specific as Luke had instructed, but he wasn't sure what to say. Was he sorry for being antisocial during lunch? Hanging out at the bar? Being rude to the woman from the mansion? Or suggesting they get married in the first place?

"Yeah, me too." She took a deep breath. "Connor, we need to talk."

"I know." He took a deep breath and decided to fix the one thing that started off all their problems in the first place. "I shouldn't have said we'd get married here. We never talked about it, did we? It's just that I . . . well, I have always wanted . . ." He grunted and clenched his fists. Why wouldn't his mouth ever work when he wanted it to? "I think we should . . ."

Abby stared at him, a small crease between her brows.

"Abby, I love you, and I want to marry you. There, I said it finally. And if you don't want to marry me too, I don't blame you. I mean, I'm not big and strong like Stephen, and I talk too much, and I like to do all the wrong things, like computer games and whatnot. You can get any guy in the world if you wanted to. There's no need to stay with me out of pity or loyalty or—"

Abby pressed her fingers to his lips. "Connor, shut up." A smile made the corners of her mouth twitch. "You really are thick, you know that?"

He nodded, and the movement made the world spin around him counterclockwise. Funny how it was counterclockwise and not the other way around, he noticed absently.

Abby removed her fingers from his lips. "Why haven't we talked about getting married, if you want to so much?" she asked, curious.

"Don't know. I was afraid you wouldn't want to, and I couldn't bear finding out."

Abby grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him down to her. They kissed, and it was sweet and tender. When they pulled back, Connor dropped his forehead onto hers. "I've been wanting to marry you for years," he confessed. "Do you ever think of marrying me, even a little bit?"

Abby nodded. "It scares me, you know. Marriage. My folks didn't exactly set a good example, but I can't imagine my life without you in it. I don't know if I'm ready for marriage, but if I marry anyone at all, it'll be you, Connor Temple."

"Really?" Connor felt like he could float up into the sky and never come down again. But then he remembered something else. "Abby, but why did you say 'God no' when asked about marrying me? It sounded like you'd rather give all the animals in the menagerie to Phillip than marry me."

Abby winced and sat back a little ways from him. "Oh yeah, about that. See, the thing is, you're not the only one who talks too much sometimes. When we went up to Jenny's room last night, I guess we drank a little too much wine. Jenny mentioned what you'd said about getting married here, and we had a lot of fun planning a pretend wedding. You'd be in a tux with a top hat, yeah? And I'd be in an antique wedding dress that I'd find in one of those posh second-hand shops. Emily would be a bridesmaid in a peach floral dress. I'd carry irises, and Lester would give me away—"

"Lester?" Connor's eyes grew big with the idea.

"Did I mention how we'd been drinking?"

Connor snorted. "Must've been pure snockered to have said that!"

"Well, I don't have a dad, do I? Though I suppose I could ask Jack to give me away."

Connor reached over and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "Listen to you, talking about our wedding as if it might happen someday."

"I am, aren't I?"

He nodded.

"Anyway, I'm sorry for talking about it to them before telling you. A couple of Jenny's friends came into the room. I didn't realize until today that rumors had spread about us getting married here as if it were a done deal. It's a private thing, and we should talk about it between us before the rest of the world knows. Anyway, I feel guilty that I talked to them first."

Connor frowned. "Is that why you always looked so uncomfortable whenever someone brought it up?"

"Yeah."

"And here I've been fretting all afternoon that you didn't want to marry me."

"I'm sorry for making you fret. I think if we talk about it once in a while, I'll get more comfortable with the idea."

"And you might say yes if I asked you?"

"Most definitely."

They kissed again, tongues tangling, and Connor wove his fingers through her hair. He scooted closer to her on the bench until their thighs were pressed close together. "I love you so much," he murmured against her lips, and proceeded to rain kisses across her cheek and over to her jaw and up to her ear.

"I love you too," whispered Abby.

"There you two are," called Matt. "I've been looking all over for you."

Connor cursed under his breath and pulled away from Abby. She snorted and mumbled something about "worst timing in the world."

"We're sorry to interrupt," said Emily graciously. "But apparently Lester contacted Matt on his telephone and expressed his interest in our whereabouts."

"He said 'I'm not paying you to sit around eating, drinking, and dancing, so get back here and earn your salary,' actually," said Matt, with a wry tone to his voice.

Connor stood and held his hand out to Abby. As he did, the outside world spun crazily, clouds and blue sky swirling by, hedges and trees blurring. It was still moving counterclockwise, he noticed with a surprisingly lack of alarm. Then the whole world tilted as if it had turned into an amusement park ride. Connor peered at the undulating grass, trying to figure out which way it would move, so he could take a step without tripping on the waves in the ground.

As Abby took his hand, a piece of sod reached up and smacked him on the side of the head. The world turned black.

-XXX-

"Connor?" he heard as if from a long distance away. "Connor? Wake up, baby."

"Who's 'baby'?" he asked, his eyes still closed.

"You are, idiot," said Abby, with a definite sound of exasperation.

"Can you open your eyes, Connor?" asked Matt, his voice gentle.

Connor opened them and squinted into the bright light. Both Abby and Matt were kneeling next to him, looking down. Emily was down by his feet, a concerned look on her face.

"He's been drinking all afternoon, and he hardly ate anything at lunch," said Abby to Matt. She was stroking Connor's hair and it felt really good. "Plus, he didn't get any sleep last night. I don't think it's anything more than that."

"Well, he can't go back to work like this," said Matt. "Though I suppose he already put in a full day's work last night, so I'll square it with Lester. You two go home and sleep or sober up or whatever you need to do."

"Thanks," said Connor, his tongue so thick that it barely came out. "You're nicer than everyone says, you know?"

Matt chuckled. "Go home, Connor. Get some sleep. When you come in tomorrow, I want a report by lunch."

Connor nodded before he realized how it would set the world to spinning anew, so he stopped and held perfectly still.

"Thanks, Matt," said Abby, running her cool fingers through Connor's hair down to his neck and back again. "We'll see you tomorrow."

After Emily and Matt left, Connor lay on the grass next to Abby.

"You really are an idiot," she told him, kissing his cheek. "Next time you're fretting, talk to me before you drink a bottle of wine or two."

"Okay," said Connor. He captured her hand and brought it to his lips. "Abby?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it too soon to ask you to marry me now?"

She smiled as she traced his lips with her fingers and followed them with a kiss that was soft and tender. "Why don't you ask me later."

Connor grinned. As Abby helped him to his feet, he threw his arm around her waist and waited for the spinning to stop. Gingerly, the two of them traipsed across the lawn and back to the mansion.

"Abby," said Connor when they got to doorway of the room where he'd made his ill-timed suggestion the day before. "Will you marry me now, please? It is later. Well, a little bit."

Abby stopped and stared at him. Her eyes filled with tears. "Yeah," she said, brushing them away. "I will."


End file.
